Prophecy-No. 4 by W. H. Blaisdell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 4, 1874

Prophecy.—No. 4.

By W. H. Blaisdell

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.” 2 Pet. 1:19.

Although but little attention is given to the study of the prophetic scriptures even, by very many who claim to be Bible students, yet we find the subject of prophecy occupies a very prominent position through all the sacred writings, from the first part of the book of Genesis to the close of the book of Revelation. It would require a very extensive work in which to refer to all the prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past, and the events and facts which furnish the proof of their fulfillment, and also to them which are now in process of fulfillment, together with them which are yet to be fulfilled in the future history of this world and the world which is to come. Though we have not proposed to enter upon a work of such magnitude as this, yet we would continue to invite attention to a few of the prophecies, and notice the events that have occurred in fulfillment of some of them.

Every prophecy that can be shown to have been fulfilled furnishes additional evidence of the truthfulness of the Bible, and also of the fact that the Bible is given to us in language that we can comprehend. And if we can learn how the prophecies have been fulfilled in the past (whether literally or spiritually), then we may expect that those relating to the future will be fulfilled in the same manner. Gen. 9: 12–17 contains the prophecy to which we will next refer. It reads as follows:—

“And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”

This prophecy is like the one last referred to in several respects.

It seems to have been given directly by God himself.
It is given in plain language without the use of figures or symbols.
It has an application in all parts of the world and in all generations since it was uttered.
It is also like the other in the fact that we are personal witnesses of its fulfillment.

It is not necessary for us to listen to the testimony of others, or to read the history of ancient cities and nations, or to visit foreign lands, to ascertain whether this prophecy has been fulfilled or not; for all who have ever seen the rainbow have been, themselves, personal witnesses of its fulfillment. And though it is so frequently seen as to be regarded as an event of usual and common occurrence, yet it continues year after year to hold out before the inhabitants of earth, its unimpeachable testimony in witness of the fact of the inspiration of the Bible.

Though it may be said that the rainbow is produced by natural causes, yet that fact is no argument against its being a fulfillment of the prophecy, for we do not learn that these natural causes existed prior to

the flood, immediately after which this prediction was given. We have no proof that the earth was watered before that time by the rain from the clouds as it has been since. It seems from the record given us in Gen. 2: 5, 6, that it was watered in a very different manner. So we see that God, who well knew what the laws of nature would henceforth be in the earth, the sea, the air, and the sunlight, and what the workings of those laws would produce, could readily predict that when the cloud should pass over the earth the bow would be seen in the cloud. And when we see in the rainbow the fulfillment of the prediction, it is evidence to us that the scripture which contains this prophecy is of divine origin, and that it is given in language that can be understood. God says: “I do set my bow in the cloud,” and that is just the name which mankind applies to the phenomenon when it appears in the cloud. Plain language, literally fulfilled!

Suppose a man reads in the morning before his family the ninth chapter of Genesis written so long ago, which contains this prophecy, and then before the close of the day they behold the brilliant rainbow spanning the beautiful arch above them, and pouring its halo of light upon the scenery around, producing in their hearts a peculiar feeling of silent awe and wonder (as is usually the case when looking upon a bright rainbow), truly it is evidence to them that God has spoken to man through the book from which the prediction was read in the lesson of the morning. But as has been stated in a previous article, unless a person becomes acquainted with the prediction itself, he might witness its fulfillment and yet not be aware of the fact that the event had been foretold in the Bible.

But if we give attention to the study of the Bible and the prophecies contained therein, with a desire to give heed thereto, we may learn that events which are almost continually transpiring in the world on every hand, and many of them in our own midst, within hearing of our own ears, and before our own eyes, have been long ago predicted and their history foretold by that Being who knows not only the history of the past, but that of the future also.

W. H. BLAISDELL.